Crew of the Axe: DJ Macleod's Separation Serial!
by DJ Mcloud
Summary: After an encounter with Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma, the Axe-Head pirates are separated and their musician ends up in trouble of his own on an island of speedsters with a strange history!
1. Separation

The tyrant Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma towered over Dusty, palm outstretched towards the kitsune girl. Judging by what had just happened to some of her other nakama, she knew exactly what he was going to do to her. "Where would you like to go?" The warlord asked in his light tone as he slowly stepped towards her in his gradual walk. She was unable to run, cornered and exhausted, as if it would make much difference against this powerful Shichibukai.

"I don't wanna go anywhere you bear-eared freak!" Dusty stuck her tongue out at the large man, remaining defiant despite her situation.

A gust of wind suddenly blew between the Shichibukai and fox pirate. As the dust cleared, both parties could see the blue-clad figure now standing in their way. "Hey bear-ossan, keep your paws off her." The speedy swordsman grinned.

Devon groaned. "I get it, paws, he's a bear-man, so funny Macleod, as we're about to be killed!" Devon shouted.

"Shut up, you're ruining my moment!" DJ shouted back.

"D-DJ-kun…" Dusty's eyes widened as she kept behind her samurai nakama.

"Don't worry Dusty-chan, I'll protect you with my life." DJ gave a thumbs-up and smiled before turning back to the lumbering warlord. "Yo, the freak in the bear hat, I have a deal for ya."

"Speak" Kuma nodded.

"If I go without a fight, will you leave Dusty-chan alone? Don't hurt her or I don't care where you send me, I'm coming back and kicking your paw-printed ass."

"She will not be harmed." Kuma nodded.

"DJ-kun don't!" Dusty cried, trying to stand but finding it no use. "You're the only one of us fast enough to keep up with this guy, you're the only one with even a small chance to get away!" She shouted. "Just leave me and run!"

"I can't do that Dusty-chan." The brunette swordsman smiled. "I can't leave you. But I promise, no matter where I am, I will find you. The entire world can't separate me from you any longer than necessary."

"DJ-kun…." Dusty sobbed, tears running down her face. "I know… and I'll find you as well…"

"That's good to hear." He nodded, turning back to Kuma. "Alright, I'm ready."

"It seems that Straw-Hat is not the only one with good nakama." Kuma watched him and lifted a pawed hand. "Where would you like to go?"

DJ laughed and shook his head. "You don't get it, I'm already… exactly where I want to be." He turned back to Dusty. "There's no other place I would rather be."

"Admirable…" Kuma placed a paw on his head.

DJ smirked and kept his word, not lifting a finger to stop him. "Dusty-chan, will you m-" And with that the pirate disappeared thanks to the power of the Shichibukai.

DJ soared through the air for three days and three nights in a paw-shaped bubble of air, landing in a similarly shaped crater, unconscious from fatigue and stress. He woke up in a bed a few hours later. "M-Marry me…?" He finished his sentence as if nothing had happened.

"Whoa kid, you're kind of cute and all but I'm not into guys and I'm pretty sure that's illegal somewhere." An elderly man sat above the pirate and looked down on the bed he was in.

The brunette shot up like a bullet and screamed with surprise, holding the scream for a surprisingly long time as he looked from the man and looked around the room, finally stopping to catch his breath. "W-Where am I? Where's my crew? Where's my sword?"

"In order, the middle part of Marathon Island, I have no fucking clue, and it's on that chair over there." The old man sighed as he stood up and went over to the chair with Raikiri on it and placing it on the bed where his feet were. "My name is Diodorus, you can call me Dio."

"Marathon Island…? That's right, Kuma pushed me away." The swordsman looked down, leaning back on the headboard of the bed.

"Kuma? As in Bartholomew Kuma, the Royal Shichibukai? The Tyrant? You met him? Why would he let you live?"

"Good question…" DJ gave a downcast stare. "Anyway, where exactly is this island?" He looked up curiously at Dio.

The old man sat back down, still looking curiously at the young boy. "Marathon Island is actually a chain of three small land masses in a slightly curved line connected by thin land bridges located in the West Blue."

"WEST BLUE! I was in the middle of the Grand Line!" DJ shouted, coughing a bit, weak from hunger.

"Here, eat a bit." Dio handed the boy a large plate of meat and watched him readily devour it, high metabolism from the speed-speed fruit in full effect. "You must have been traveling a long time if you came all the way from there. I found you in a weird paw-shaped crater not far off our shore."

After he finished, DJ described his encounter with the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma and his crew as well as the separation and various details to fill him in.

"It'll probably be a while before you get back to your crew." Dio took note of the boy's depressed expression and stood, smirking as he tossed him a blue jacket and shirt along with a pair of jeans. "Get dressed, do you like races?"

"You see, every year we have a grand series of races to determine the fastest person in the West Blue. It's based on our legend of a man who ran across the entire chain of three islands in two hours during a war to ask for help from the town on the opposite side, then ran back despite being denied to support his people. By the time he returned the people on the third island had won the battle and he ran all the way back to his home village, whispered 'We have won' and collapsed." Dio explained.

"Wow, I'm pretty fast myself, I want to race that guy!" DJ shouted at the old man excitedly.

"Well… he had a heart attack shortly after collapsing and died, so that will be kind of impossible… but to honor that fear we have a race every year. There's a 200 million belli prize for the victor."

"200 million eh? I'm not much for money but Niri-chan would be happy if I were able to bring that back with me." He scratched his chin and daydreamed.

"_Niri-chwaaaan~! I brought you money!" DJ floated in, hearts surrounding him as he carried a huge sack with a belli sign on it onto the ship. _

"_Oh DJ-kun~! Hugs forever!" Niri squealed as she hugged him tightly. _

DJ blushed softly, still rubbing his chin in thought as he faded back to reality. "I DO enjoy hugs…" He giggled like a schoolgirl.

"What the heck are you thinking about?" Dio chuckled, glad to see the boy was no longer depressed by his separation. "I guess it's normal for kids to be thinking about that kind of thing…" He shook his head.

"HEY! It's nothing like that!" DJ facefaulted, a huge blush on his face as he prodded the old man lightly with his foot.

"Anyway, hurry up. We're going to miss the registration speech." Dio pushed the musician along until they met a large crowd in front of an ornate stage in the courtyard. "Good, it's just about to start."

"And now to speak for the opening of the registration for Marathon's Annual Marathon Races, here's eight-time winner, Marathon's own Jet "The Hawk" Takabi!" Who DJ presumed to be the mayor stepped aside as a green-haired boy who appeared to be in his early twenties with spiked green hair and a long curved nose shaped like a beak stepped up to the microphone snail.

"Welcome to the races, participants from far and wide." Jet said with disturbing serenity. "As you register, I urge you to come forward. Pirate or Marine, man or woman, human or fishman, noble or peasant, pure blood or mixed. I don't care who you are, AS LONG AS YOU'RE FAST!" Jet raised his voice, blue eyes sparkling with fierce determination as he scanned the crowd, briefly locking on DJ before going back to his seat with the crowd applauding loudly.

"Dio-san…" A slow grin crept over DJ's face and spread wide. "I am definitely registering for this race."

Dio seemed more than happy to support DJ as he signed up for the races to be held on the next day. "Since you're going into the races anyway, would you mind wearing my logo?" The old man grinned as they got back to his house.

"So that's why you seem so happy about all this, you want to be my sponsor, did you have that planned all along?" DJ looked down with a cynical glance as he ate a dango the two had stopped to get off the skewer.

"Well you did say you ate the Speed-Speed fruit in your description of your crew and if you managed to survive going against Kuma you must be the fastest thing alive!" Dio chuckled. "Besides, business has been slow lately and this could be just the thing to help out."

"What exactly does your business do again?" The speedy swordsman looked down as he took another bite.

Dio slammed his hand on the sign outside his house. "I am owner of Tengu Shoes! I, Diodorus Tengu am the best shoemaker in all of the West Blue! If you wear my logo on the back of your jacket during the races and do well, I'll give you the best pair of sandals you've ever had, free of charge!"

DJ smiled, finishing his tango and sticking the skewer in his mouth with a grin, reaching out to shake the old man's hand. "You've got a deal ossan!"

"Good, now get some sleep, you've got to rest up for tomorrow!" Dio chuckled as he headed off to work on the sandals.

"Awww, but I'm too excited to sleep!" DJ pouted.

The boy awoke when the sky was dark, he wasn't sure of the time as he blindly groped his way towards the light of a candle through a cracked door. "Damn!" He heard the curse as he opened the door a crack, spying Dio hard at work so late at night, his elderly hands shaking and bruised as he carefully threaded the straw rope. He wiped the blood from the hand where he poked himself with a needle and sighed, trying to steady himself. The old man looked at a picture of himself with an elderly woman, smiling softly. "Don't worry Emily, no matter how much my hands shake, I'll finish these shoes, and they'll be my best work yet. That boy is our last hope. This shop was our dream, and I won't let that dream die just because you did…" He gave a tear-filled smile as he set the picture down and carefully went back to threading the rope, hands as steady as a sniper's.

"_Wouldn't the world be a wonderful place if everyone followed their dreams? If everyone worked so hard to make themselves and other's happy through dreams, the world would be a paradise, don't you think, eh big brother? That's my dream!"_ Sirena's words echoed in DJ's head as he watched Dio work.

The swordsman slowly turned away from the door with a soft smile, laying back in the bed and drifting off to sleep. "Don't worry ossan, I won't let your dream die either."

"Wake up! Wake up!" DJ was jostled by Dio as morning came. The musician yawned softly as he sat up, putting on his blue t-shirt and blue running pants. "I worked all night, but I finally finished them." Dio grinned, holding up a pair of neatly crafted waraji sandals.

As DJ took them out of Dio's hands, he saw the old man's severely worn and bruised hands, shaking lightly as he lowered them, his bag-filled eyes exhausted as he looked at the boy wearily. "These really are the best in the world." He smirked to himself as he put them on. His eyes widened as he hopped around a bit, doing a quick dash to the other side of the house in an instant. "Wow! These waraji are amazing! My feet feel so light!"

"They're made of a special kind of straw found in the New World and sewn together by an ancient family secret weaving technique. Your feet should actually be lighter than if you were wearing nothing at all." Dio smirked proudly.

DJ grinned as he hopped from one foot to the other, a slight jump in his step as he bounced along. "Are we ready to go? The preliminaries are going to start soon."

"One more thing." Dio had folded up the blue jacket he had given the boy the day before, only now revealing he had stitched into it an emblem similar to the sign outside. A large bird-like creature with a long nose spreading its wings across the shoulders of the back with the word 'TENGU' in big red letters in the middle.

"Thanks old man, I'll wear it with pride." He chuckled. He was literally carrying the man's hopes on his shoulders. He put the jacket on and urged the old man with him. "Here, get on my back!" The swordsman laughed and lifted the old shoemaker carefully onto his back.

"Now hold on tight!" Like a bullet the speedy swordsman took off down the road and within minutes they were at the stadium where the races were going to be held. "Wow, I feel even faster with these shoes on!" He grinned.

The shoemaker seemed astonished that they were there so fast but at the same time he appeared too frazzled from the high-speed ride to care. "W-Warn me next time you're gonna do that, will ya?" He shakily got off the boy's back and yawned heavily, clearly fatigued from the night before.

DJ smirked as he headed towards the stadium entrance. "Ossan, why don't you take a nap for the preliminaries? You'll see me in the finals, I guarantee it." He gave Dio a thumbs up and a huge grin as he raced to start the competition.


	2. The Four Finalists

The preliminaries for the Annual Marathon Races began with a roar as contestants were divided into sections of tracks. Each group was instructed to wait in line until their name was called, at which time they would run down one of the four quarters of the oval-shaped track while being timed. The top four times would advance to the semi-finals and be paired off in one-on-one races to determine the winner. From the winners of those two races they would pit the two against each other to race for the title of champion.

DJ slammed his fist against his palm with a smirk. "Alright! I'm gonna do this and beat that Jet guy for the old man!" He laughed softly.

"You're going to beat Jet? Kinda scrawny aren't you?" A female voice behind him scoffed. He turned around and saw a woman with short blonde hair sitting on the wall at the back of the line behind him. She hopped down with a smirk, moving up behind him and shrugging. "He's won this thing eight times, there's no way you could beat him, not in a million light years."

"Don't light years measure distance?" DJ blinked. "Also if he's won that many times, he must have over a billion belli, why's he keep doing it?"

"Didn't you hear his speech?" The woman asked. "He doesn't care about the money, he just wants to race against fast people in the hopes that one day he'll find someone who isn't a complete bore to race. In fact… Jet "The Hawk" is a famous pirate hunter here in the West Blue who catches pirates for the bounties and donates the prize money to Marathon each year to use for races. He wants to entice fast people to participate by having a big prize, but he keeps getting money-hungry scallywags and losers… no offense." She shrugged.

"H-He hunts pirates eh?" DJ chuckled nervously, scratching his cheek in thought.

"Don't worry, he personally grants pirates amnesty during the day of races so that pirates and marines of great speed can race together despite allgiances, though if you're in some trouble with the law, I'd split as fast as I could after the races if I were you. Lots of pissed-off marines are always angry about losing." She chuckled softly.

"I see… are there any other favorites besides Jet?" DJ blinked at the lady curiously.

"Well I wouldn't exactly call him a favorite, but look over there." She pointed across the field to where an extremely large man with heavy stone blocks tied to his arms, legs and an even bigger one on his back was stepping up to the starting line. "That man's real name is unknown but he calls himself "The Block" according to rumor he lost to Jet seven years ago in Jet's first run as champion and swore revenge, going out into the forest and training with heavy stone weights, isolating himself until he could lift those stones like they were paper."

DJ watched as the Block untied his ropes, letting the stone blocks fall off with a loud thud that made the whole stadium ring. "They say he has never taken off those weights in seven years. He's not exactly a humble guy either, ever since he got to town the other day he's been bragging that he's going to beat Jet."

"On your mark, get set, go!" The referee shouted as he started the timer, watching the Block race past at breakneck speed seemingly unnatural for the large man. "Four point oh-eight seconds!"

"Wow, that guy's awesome!" DJ giggled, staring in awe as the Block finished up his quarter of the track in a few seconds flat.

"That's nothing, looks like Jet's getting ready to do his time trial too." The woman smirked, nodding to their right. The man with spiked green hair and the beak nose from before stepped up to his own starting line.

Jet held out two finger. "Two seconds flat." He proudly declared as he got on his mark.

"On your mark, get set, GO!" The ref called out and started the stopwatch and Jet went off the line nimbly and in a flash was at the finish. The ref could hardly contain himself as he stopped the watch. "O-One point nine six seconds!"

"HE BEAT HIS OWN BOAST!" DJ exclaimed, jaw practically dropping as he watched the champ head back to the crowd.

"Hey, scar-eye, you're up!" One of the men behind DJ and the woman shouted.

"Scar…? Oh! That's me!" DJ giggled.

"What's this punk up to?" The men behind them laughed and teased as they watched the relatively small and young musician get on his mark.

"Ready, steady, GO!" Almost before he had finished the sentence DJ was at the finish line.

"Hi there." He waved and laughed. "How'd I do?"

"I-I didn't even start the timer yet…" The ref looked shocked as he and the other men looked at the boy with slack jaws. The woman he was talking to merely laughed as if a huge joke had been played on the whole stadium.

"Oh sorry, want me to try again?" DJ blinked and headed back to the starting line.

"Ready, steady, GO!" The ref shouted.

"It's okay to go this time, right?" DJ looked at the people behind him.

"YES! GO ALREADY!" They facefaulted.

"RIGHT!" He raced towards them again, completing the quarter track in an instant. "Wow, Dio's shoes are amazing, it feels like there's almost no friction on my feet." He laughed lightly as he hopped up and down on the finish line.

"Well ref, what's the time?" The woman asked casually.

"T-Three point oh one seconds!"

"Even with all that dawdling he still came in faster than Block, impressive." She smirked softly.

"Good luck miss!" DJ cheered as he hopped up on the wall. Where she was sitting before, sitting by where the audience was watching.

"On your mark, get set…"

"Soru…" The woman whispered as she tapped her heels to the ground.

"GO!"

The blonde-haired woman shot like a bullet through the air, seemingly disappearing and reappearing a second later at the finish line. "Two point six five seconds!"

"Amazing, she went by so fast… she knows Soru like Axe and those CP9 guys!" DJ watched astonished. "How's that even possible?"

"You've never heard of her?" Dio yawned as he woke up from his nap, heading down to his seat by where DJ was sitting at the edge of the track. "Her name's Sara Keto, and she's the marine captain responsible for this part of the West Blue."

"A MARINE CAPTAIN!" DJ gaped. "You didn't think to tell me about marines before I entered!"

"Relax, she has a deep respect for Jet and refuses to chase any pirates on the day of the races so that they can participate against him without worry." Dio smiled wearily.

"Still, she knows rokushiki? What kind of woman is she?" DJ eyed the female with curiosity.

"She doesn't exactly know all of it, it's not uncommon for some higher-up Marine officers to pick up one or two of the powers through training at the headquarters. Still she's quite an officer, they call her "The Valkyrie", rumor has it she knows three of the six powers, soru, geppou, and rankyaku, all owing to her great leg speed. She's also quick with a pistol and it's said she's so fast, she can get to a pirate within a square mile of where she is in the blink of an eye and have a gun pointed at their head before they can bat an eyelash."

"Sounds… d-dangerous." DJ gulped and chuckled nervously.

"Looks like they've got the four finalists up on the board, look DJ-san!" Dio pointed to the projectiong screen that had the names and times of the four people selected for the finals in big letters.

1: Jet "The Hawk": 1'96

2: Captain Sara Keto: 2'65

3: DJ Macleod: 3'01

4: "The Block" 4'08

"ALRIGHT! I made it!" DJ cheered, holding up two fingers in victory as he turned to Dio.

"Will the four finalists please report to the center of the track for match-ups!" The announcer called out over the microphone snail.

As Jet, DJ, Sara and the Block lined up at the grassy center of the oval track, Sara punched DJ in the arm lightly. "Nice going kid, you got father than I thought. If you don't end up against me or Jet you might even make it to the finals." She laughed softly.

"Alright, time to decide the first matchup of the semi-finals!" The announcer shouted, waving his arm as the board from before randomized their names and showed in bold letters the selections for the first match.

Jet "The Hawk"

Vs

"The Block"

"YEEEEEEEEAAAH!" The huge man known as the block roared taking his place at the starting line with Jet, pointing a sausage-like finger at the green-haired boy, who merely stared him down with his piercing blue eyes. "Finally I will have my revenge for seven years ago Jet! This must be fate wanting me to beat you sooner rather than later! So tell me Jet, do you smell it? DO YOU SMELL WHAT THE BLOCK IS COOKING!"

DJ and Sara facepalmed. "This guy's a moron."

"I smell something alright, please move at least one row downwind." Jet sighed softly.

"Of course you'd smell it with that giant bird nose of yours." The Block laughed.

"Don't… don't make fun of my nose." Jet looked up at the man with a fierce anger in his hawk-like eyes.

"Are the contestants ready? The race will be determined by the first one to run three laps around the track. On your mark, get set, GO!" The Block crossed the line with great speed, dashing around the corner of the first part of the track with fantastic speed. Meanwhile Jet didn't even move as he tapped the tip of his foot on the starting line. "Uh… Jet? The race has started!" The announcer screamed into his microphone snail.

"Oh I know." The champ gave a soft smirk as he stretched, not going over the starting line at all as The Block completed his first lap.

"What's wrong Jet? Too frightened of my improved speed to even get off the starting line?" The Block roared with laughter as he passed the hawk boy.

"Alright, that's enough of a head start." Jet cracked his neck. "Four steps below Shukuchi." He said quietly before disappearing, passing the block and completing his first lap in the time it took the larger man to get half way through his second. "Three steps below Shukuchi." He announced as he passed the Block heading into his final lap as the huge man was about a quarter of a lap away from starting his.

"Damn you Jet!" The Block roared as he ran across the line again, heading into the final lap at top speed. However it was too late, Jet was already right behind him, coming up in seconds and tapping him on the shoulder as he crossed the finish line one last time while his opponent was only a quarter of the way through his last lap.

"Good game muscle-man." Jet gave a cocky smirk. "Sorry for the head start but otherwise it wouldn't have been interesting at all." He yawned.

"Damn you, you beak-nosed freak! How dare you humiliate me again!" The Block roared, raising a huge fist to smash the smaller speedster.

Jet disappeared as the fist came crashing down, reappearing in his opponent's space, a few feet off the ground with his foot by the Block's head. "All this muscle mass means you have less aerodynamics, it doesn't matter how strong your legs are if the wind resistance on your body and the weight of your frame slows those strong muscles down. A real racer struggles to keep strong and lean at the same time. Extreme Wind." He gave a hard kick to the man's face, sending him sailing over the track and into the stands, crashing into the crowd of the audience with a blank look on his face, unconscious as his face bled.

"I told you not to make fun of my nose." Jet said calmly and brushed off his hands.

"The winner of round one is Jet 'The Hawk'!" The announcer cheered as the crowd erupted with applause, screaming 'Jet! Jet! Jet!'.

"How boring." Jet shrugged as he returned to the center bench where DJ and Sara were getting ready. "Beat this kid quick Sara, maybe you can give me a more interesting race."

"I'll try Jet." Sara laughed lightly.

"Alright then, by default that leaves our next match to…" The announcer pointed to the screen as names appeared again.

Captain Sara Keto

Vs

DJ Macleod

"Sara's held the runner-up position two years in a row against Jet here at these races and is a famous marine captain! DJ's a newcomer this year from the East Blue and… uh… I don't know that much about him!" The announcer laughed nervously.

DJ dashed over, grabbing the microphone snail from the announcer. "I'm representing Tengu Shoes!" He turned, showing the symbol on the back. "If you want to be fast like me, go get some shoes from old man Dio Tengu!" He pointed into the crowd with a grin.

"I see.. a corporate sellout." The announcer adjusted his glasses as he took the snail back from DJ.

"THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!" He facefaulted.

Dio smiled as he watched from the crowd, wiping tears from his eyes. "Thanks kid, that means a lot." He laughed lightly. "Knock 'em dead kid, do your best!" He shouted, waving his arms frantically.

The two racers took their places at the starting line, shooting smirks back at one another. "Good luck Sara-chan. I normally don't like to go against women but just a race should be alright." He giggled.

"Good luck to you too kid, let's have a good race." She gave him a thumbs up and smirked softly as they prepared.

"On your mark, get set, GO!" The announcer shouted as the two took off.

"Geppou: Jump Start!" Sara called out, seemingly brazing her two legs in the air and hopping forward like she was taking off from the side of a pool. She dashed ahead of DJ in a breakneck pace, activating Soru as soon as she landed and taking a good-sized lead.

"Oh no! That's Captain Sara's famous "Jump Start" technique! She's used it countless times get a good lead off the line and stay ahead so her opponents never have a chance! What will the challenger do now?" The announcer yelled.

"Shit… she's ahead already…" DJ winced as he picked up the pace, running as fast as he could and closing the distance so he was only a few steps behind Sara.

"Oh my! The challenger is a bit faster than we thought, he's catching up!"

"Damn, he is fast." Sara grunted and kicked her Soru up a notch, gaining a step or two in her lead as they crossed the finish line for the end of the first lap.

"It's the end of the first lap and Captain Sara has been in the lead the whole lap but the challenger DJ is right on her well-toned ass!" The announcer called, yelping in pain as his last comment got him a backhand upside the head from Jet.

"I'm gonna win… I have to win… for the old man's shop… I'M GONNA WIN!" DJ roared, echoing through the stadium as he gained on Sara, nipping at her heels.

"Shit, how is it his eyes can even catch up with where I am while I'm using soru!" Sara grunted as she struggled to extend her lead by a few steps again.

"That boy has fast eyes, usually only people who use soru or have some special technique can keep up with similar techniques, but every part of his body is as fast as his legs. He's not using a special technique or anything, it's pure physical speed and agility known as shinsoku, the same speed used in iado and battōjutsu for swordsmanship… is this kid that kind of swordsman?" Jet speculated as he watched Sara and DJ cross the finish line a second time, coming into the final lap.

"Geppou: Photo Finish!" Sara shouted, kicking off the air again as she ran, doing a similar technique as where she started from while not interrupting he running stance, sending her a few more feet ahead of DJ.

"Oh no, it's Sara's finishing move, 'Photo Finish'! She's put an extra jump in her step to give her a speed boost before the finish line! Looks like contender DJ is putting up on hell of a fight but Sara's had the lead for two laps now, it'll be hard to pass her at this point in the game!" The announcer called out.

"Damnit… what's wrong? Why do my legs feel so heavy even though I'm wearing Dio's special waraji?" He grunted as his legs seemed to refuse to go faster. He heard a clinking sound as his legs brushed together and he nearly tripped over himself. "Don't tell me…" He lifted up the shins of his pants, revealing the heavy leg weights he sometimes used for training that he had removed during his fights on Skypeia and hadn't used again for the fight at Enies Lobby.

"I completely forgot I put these on for my stretching!" DJ smacked himself in the forehead. "I'm an idiot…" He untied the weights and let them crash behind him as a cloud of dust encompassed half the arena behind him.

"What the hell! How could he forget he had something so heavy on!" Dio facefaulted as the rest of the crowd had a similar reaction.

"Was he really so used to training with those weights he put them on through instinct and didn't significantly feel them?" Jet asked himself.

"The hell!"

"Watch out Sara!" DJ laughed as he zipped past the girl at top speed, bounding along as he felt himself free of the weights and completely reversing the situation, taking a sizable lead on the Marine Captain as he crossed the finish line several feet ahead of her.

"And the winner of the second semi-final match is… DJ Macleod!"

"ALRIGHT! I WON! Remember Tengu shoes everybody!" He laughed, holding up a victory sign, turning to Sara with an extended hand. "Nice race Sara-chan, you're really fast, if I hadn't remembered my weights at the last second you would have beaten me by a mile." He laughed softly.

Sara smiled and shook his hand. "Not bad yourself there Macleod. Good luck in the finals, you're going to need it."

DJ nodded, turning to Jet with a smirk. "You're next, Hawk."

The beak-nosed man let a small smirk cross his stern face. "Oh… this'll be fun…"

**Next time: The Final Round! DJ vs Jet!**


End file.
